Tatarian Honeysuckle Lonicera tatarica
- Phonetic Spelling
- loh-NIS-er-ah tat-TAR-ee-ka
- This plant has low severity poison characteristics.
- See below
- Description
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Tatarian Honeysuckle is a non-native shrub from Asia that can become invasive, invading open woodlands, thickets, fence rows, and roadsides. It can spread rapidly due to birds and mammals dispersing the seeds and can form an extremely dense understory thicket, restricting native plant growth and inhibiting biodiversity. This shrub has dense tangles of leggy branches with hollow twigs and is often the first shrub to grow leaves in the spring. It is listed as a noxious weed in several states.
The flowers have a sweet fragrance typical of honeysuckle. This honeysuckle prefers partial sun, moist, fertile, loamy soil, but it is highly adaptable to a wide variety of soil and environmental conditions. It can grow in full sun to shade, and moist to dry, gravelly, or sandy soils.
This plant is a host for the larvae of the Hummingbird moth (Macroglossum stellatarum).
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: witches broom caused by Russian aphids, leaf spot, powdery mildew, and blights. This plant may become too tall for the home landscape and be difficult to prune dead branches, as well as self-seeding aggressively. This species is classified as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- 'Arnold Red'
- 'Fan Guo'
- 'Zabelli'
- 'Arnold Red'
- 'Arnold Red', 'Fan Guo', 'Zabelli'
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Arnold Red'
- 'Fan Guo'
- 'Zabelli'
- 'Arnold Red'
- 'Arnold Red', 'Fan Guo', 'Zabelli'
- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Lonicera
- Species:
- tatarica
- Family:
- Caprifoliaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Woody
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Layering
- Seed
- Stem Cutting
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Siberia and central and eastern Asia
- Distribution:
- Eastern and mid-western USA and Canada
- Wildlife Value:
- The flowers are pollinated by the ruby-throated hummingbird, hummingbird moths (Hemaris spp.), bumblebees, large carpenter bees, mason bees, leaf-cutting bees (Megachile spp.), and green metallic bees (Agapostemon spp., Augochlorella spp., etc.) Berries are eaten by robins, starlings, cedar waxwings, and other birds which help to disperse the seeds. White-tailed deer lightly browse the foliage and eastern cottontail rabbit will eat the fruits.
- Play Value:
- Attractive Flowers
- Attracts Pollinators
- Fragrance
- Wildlife Cover/Habitat
- Wildlife Food Source
- Dimensions:
- Height: 8 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 8 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Perennial
- Poisonous
- Shrub
- Weed
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Arching
- Erect
- Multi-stemmed
- Rounded
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- High
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Occasionally Dry
- Available Space To Plant:
- 6-feet-12 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Red/Burgundy
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Fruit Type:
- Berry
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Width:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- The abundant paired berries are 0.25 inches, orange to red when ripe and containing numerous seeds. They often persist throughout winter.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Pink
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Spike
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Fragrant
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Flower Shape:
- Trumpet
- Tubular
- Flower Petals:
- 4-5 petals/rays
- fused petals
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Trumpet-shaped flowers are .7 to 1 inch and develop in pairs in the axils of the leaves from May to June. Flowers are deeply 5-lobed, tubular, usually pink to red and rarely white.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Blue
- Green
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Insignificant
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Opposite
- Leaf Shape:
- Orbicular
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Bluish-green leaves are 1½-2½" long and ¾-1½" across and the undersides are pale green.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Dark Brown
- Dark Gray
- Surface/Attachment:
- Peeling
- Shredding
- Bark Description:
- The bark of older branches is gray to grayish brown with narrow longitudinal ridges; with age, it becomes shaggy from shredded strips of bark and can often peel in vertical strips.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Attracts:
- Bees
- Hummingbirds
- Moths
- Pollinators
- Songbirds
- Specialized Bees
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Black Walnut
- Deer
- Drought
- Problems:
- Frequent Disease Problems
- Poisonous to Humans
- Problem for Children
- Weedy
